Month: June 2018

Randolph Runyon, who in May 2016 attended our historic marker dedication on Mentelle Park and spoke at our neighborhood history program, has published his book, The Mentelles: Mary Todd Lincoln, Henry Clay, and the Immigrant Family Who Educated Antebellum Kentucky  (University Press of Kentucky, $40).

It is an excellent read, with a lot of surprising information about this famous French couple Lexingtonians didn’t know as well as they thought. I have written my Herald-Leader column for Sunday’s paper about it. You can read it now online by clicking here.

The book is available in local bookstores, such as Brier Books on South Ashland Avenue or Wild Fig Books on North Limestone Street.

Runyon will be speaking and signing the book at a July 18 luncheon at Ashland, the Henry Clay Estate. Click here for reservations and more information. Ashland has offered to give Mentelle Neighborhood Association members the Ashland members’ discount on tickets. Space is limited.

It may be tiny, but you can’t miss the Tiny Library installed June 5 on the large lawn in front of Temple Adath Israel, 124 North Ashland Ave.

An initiative of the Lexington Public Library, it is one of about 30 book-filled boxes around the city. More installations are planned, but for the moment the box at Temple Adath Israel is the only Tiny Library in the Mentelle, Bell Court, Kenwick, Ashland Park, Chevy Chase, Fairway, Idle Hour, Shriners and Lansdowne Merrick neighborhoods along Richmond and Tates Creek roads.

(Mentelle neighborhood already has a couple of Little Library boxes neighbors have installed that aren’t affiliated with the Lexington Public Library.)

The idea is that passersby may take a book for themselves to enjoy or leave one that others might like. The library’s website describes a Tiny Library as a “miniature community center for sharing books. It’s hyper-local — right in your neighborhood — and it’s free, easy and fun.”

The box arrived at The Temple already stocked with books for children and adults. The Temple will be responsible for making sure it remains filled with an enticing array of choices.

The Tiny Library boxes were designed by Nomi Design, a Lexington firm that donated its services. They sit on a concrete base and are made of steel, wood and plexiglass, “with an eye toward elegance, durability and ease of use,” according Lexpublib.org. Sponsorship of a Tiny Library is $250 per installation. For more information, go to Lexpublib.org/tinylibrary.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the neighborhood garden party social Sunday afternoon. Special thanks to our hosts: Page Etchison, Esther Hurlburt, Shelby Reynolds and David Bartley. The event was made even more special by our talented neighborhood musicians: Daniel Mohler, Andres Cruz and Elaine Cook.  What a lovely afternoon.

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